1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for sighting, setting up and aligning a satellite dish to receive satellite signals, including but not limited to television satellite signals.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-a-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
Setting up a satellite dish to receive television or other satellite signals requires the precise positioning and aiming of the satellite dish. The satellites are “parked” in geosynchronous orbit, typically 22,300 miles above the equator, and travel at the exact same rate as the earth's rotational speed so they appear stationary. To obtain a good signal, the satellite dish must be pointed precisely (within 2 degrees in all directions) and directly at the satellite (the “look angle”), with no obstructions between the two. This means that no trees, buildings, mountains, hills, wood, brick, metal, leaves, or other obstructions can be positioned within the line of sight between the dish and the satellite.
In addition to the difficulty of finding a clear line of sight, a level spot must also be found to place the dish stand or dish mount, and the mounting pole must also be level. If the dish mounting pole is not perfectly level, not only are the molded or stamped alignment markings on the dish inaccurate, but as one axis of the dish alignment is adjusted, the alignment of the other axis, if it was previously set, becomes misaligned. The conventional process for aligning a satellite dish can become an extremely aggravating process. The current dual low noise block down converter satellite dishes which employ a single feed horn (LNB) to pick up waves from two satellites placed close to each other in space in geosynchronous orbit and newer modern multi-satellite dishes (which can pick up waves from three satellites) are even more difficult as they require an additional axis of the satellite dish (generally referred to as “skew”, “tilt” or “polarization”) to also be accurately aligned in order to receive signals from either two or three satellites at the same time.
Because the satellite signal is a digital signal, the person who is setting up the dish must wait from 5 to 10 seconds between adjustments of the dish for the receiver to “catch up” with the signal and show up on the television. This process of adjustment, waiting, and analysis of the results on the television must be repeated multiple times in order to obtain an acceptable satellite signal. Thus it is a time-consuming and difficult procedure to align a dish for optimal reception from a given satellite.
A number of patents and patent applications disclose devices and methods for aligning satellite dishes. However, all devices and methods heretofore described have significant limitations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,706 discloses an alignment gage that determines azimuth and altitude, but does not provide for a third skew axis. It also lacks a method or structure for determining obstructions in the line of sight. This device also requires that the dish stand or mount be level. U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,972 discloses a gage that allows verification of a clear line of sight; however, it is only for site selection, and is not employed in aiming of a satellite dish. It also does not provide for a third skew axis. U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,926 discloses a complex sphere assembly, requiring a map of the earth's surface served by the satellite, and utilizing spherical trigonometry to determine reference points. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,647,134, 5,734,356, 5,894,674, 5,977,922, and 6,081,240 provide a gage mounted to a satellite dish, but do not provide for a third skew axis, lack a method or structure for determining obstructions in the line of sight, and require that the dish stand or mount be level. Other devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,862, 5,585,804, 5,471,210, 6,538,612, 6,710,749 and Patent Application Nos. 2003/0214449 and 2004/0160375, incorporate complex electronic systems, as well as lacking means for determining a third skew axis and lacking methods or structure for determining obstructions in the line of sight. U.S. Pat. No. 6,683,581 and Patent Application Nos. 2002/0084941 and 2002/0083574 disclose electronic gages which include a third skew axis determination, but lack methods or structure for determining obstructions in the line of sight.
Thus while a number of devices and methods provide partial solutions to the problems of aligning satellite dishes, each prior art device and method has significant limitations. An ideal device is mechanical, can be used to determine a suitable line of sight both prior to placement of the satellite dish and after placement of the satellite dish, permits orientation in three dimensions (altitude, azimuth and skew), can be removably mounted on the satellite dish, and can be set to the appropriate dimensions for a given satellite (again altitude, azimuth and skew) prior to alignment of a dish, such that only two variables, magnetic north on a compass and level, such as by means of bubble levels, need to be ascertained in order to have the dish properly aligned. Additionally, a device is preferably non-ferrous, so as to not interfere with compass orientation, and is a sufficient distance from a metal structure of a dish so as to not interfere with compass orientation. It is against this background, and in order to provide a device addressing these parameters, that the present invention was developed.